AT&T launching Red Hydrogen One this Friday for $1,295 with extras

AT&T has revealed it will launch the Red Hydrogen One — described as the world’s first holographic smartphone — this Friday, complete with an exclusive offer.

The smartphone, the first from cinema camera company Red, will cost $43.17 for a 30-month contract with eligibility for AT&T’s upgrade service Next. AT&T didn’t mention an outright cost in its press release, but the total cost over the 30-month contract period is $1,295.10. The phone went up for pre-order at Red earlier this year for $1,195.

Meanwhile, Verizon will also release the Red Hydrogen on November 2, but with a slightly different offer. There, the Hydrogen One will set you back $53.95 per month for 24 months for a $1,294.80 total.

The Red Hydrogen One’s main selling point is a proprietary display technology known as ‘4-view’ (4V), said to provide a hologram-like experience. We haven’t seen this in person yet, but other folkshave and the general impression is that it makes for an interesting effect, despite nothing actually popping out of the display. Instead, the effect appears to relate more to screen depth, supposedly allowing you to see different angles of an image within the display depending on how you hold the handset.

Editor's Pick

Leaked infographic gives us definitive look at Red Hydrogen One specs

With pre-orders of the Red Hydrogen One still not at people's doorsteps, there is still a good deal that we do not know about the smartphone. Fortunately, a leaked infographic reported by Android Central looks to …

Red’s 4V technology will also require some support from other apps and developers to reach its full potential. For example, regular movies won’t be viewable in 4V, as they will have to be made specifically for it.

With that in mind, AT&T said a handful of 4V-compatible movies will be available through Red’s upcoming Hydrogen Network, with plans to extend the catalog to more than 100 titles in the future. AT&T also said the first 10,000 customers to pick up the phone and register for a Hydrogen Network account will receive 4V versions of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them” and “Ready Player One.” Red’s Hydrogen Network will host a variety of films as well as music and games that support 4V, but pricing is yet to be disclosed.